Bits From My Journal

The heart is painted with thick layers of desire.

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Their carts filled with informalities at bargain prices.

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The day opened wide as a book opened often, to a favorite page.

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Willows hunch, creaking arthritically in gusty breeze.

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The subterranean culture swallowed up the past; it is but fumes of sulfur- that residual stench of palpability.

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The last day extends a hand, as if to offer some basis to anticipate comfort without suspicion.

Nobel Prize Laureate to Share Poetry

This Friday, May 5th - Seamus Heaney, Nobel Prize Laureate and featured speaker for the 2006 University of Kentucky Main Commencement Ceremony. Heaney will also read on campus from his work as well as his latest book of poems new book of poems, "District and Circle" which will be released by Farrar Straus & Giroux this month. [source]

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If you have not heard LIVING WITH WAR by Neal Young [click here]

Tags: Poetry war lyrics Music

The Superhero Thing

It seems that one of the most frequent keyword searches that bring people to this site involves the words hero and poems. Actually most often it is "superhero poems". I'm sorry to say that such internet surfers are going to be disappointed because I have never written a poem about a superhero and I don't recall even one about a hero in specific terms. Perhaps, someday I will venture into that realm. When I do, of course the Superhero will likely be none other than "Stick Poet."

Events:

Kansas City Metro Area:

POETRY AND POETS: May 4 - Leawood City Hall, Maple Room, 4800 Town Center Drive, Leawood, Kansas Writers and listeners welcome. Free. (913-344-0255; 913-339-6700, Ext. 157)

Open Mic: Thursday, May 18, 7pm
KC Poetry Open Reading is a monthly series featuring open reading and special readers. Sign-up for open reading begins at 6:30 with actual reading from 7-9pm. Hosted by Will Leathem this event takes place at The Plaza library, 4801 Main Street - Kansas City, MO

Open Mic: Monday. May 22, 8pm
An open mic reading every fourth Monday of the month. At these open mic nights hosted by Sharon Eiker everyone reads! Writers Place is located at: 3607 Pennsylvania - Kansas City, MO 64111


Poet's Quote for today...

"A poet dares be just so clear and no clearer... He unzips the veil from beauty, but does not remove it. A poet utterly clear is a trifle glaring." ~ E. B. White

Ah, and what have you to say about that Ted Koozer? (sorry, I couldn't help myself)


tags: Ted Koozer Poetry Superheros

The clutter of blank stares

So National Poetry Month is past, but I still have a treasure trove of wonderful quotes from poets. Hence I will continue to spoon feed them to you but perhaps not on a daily basis.

The Poet's Quote for today:
"How frail the human heart must be - a mirrored pool of thought. " ~Sylvia Plath

And here is a snip-it from one of my older works:

The clutter of blank stares
In a multitude of fun house mirrors
Each one, my own washed-out
Version of despair.

Wow, nice acquisition for Princeton University:
Library acquires archives of prominent literary magazine

Tags: poem Princeton Sylvia Plath Poetry Literature

May Day

To plug another poet...
I haven't read it, but I might suggest that people check out Christine Hamm's book The Animal Husband. (you can get it here) In her own words - "It is funny and sad and a little bit pretty, just like me." frankly, I haven't read much of Christine's work that I didn't just adore.

I enjoyed reading the poem PLANET by Frances Brent in the May 1 edition of the New Yorker. I loved the line, When it slid out of her grasp, / she kept asking / "Didn't I keep my promise?"

You know when people say to you, "You really should get out more?" I think my version of that line to writers is, "Your really should read other people's stuff more."

It's May 1st and you older folks like me can probably remember all the May Day photos we used to see in the papers of the long parades in the Soviet Union where they would roll out all their military hardware down the streets for the world to see. I was thinking about that this morning and how that has all changed. I was also thinking about how across the nation hundreds of thousands of immigrants - some illegally in this country will take to the streets and demonstrate for immigration reform that is favorable to their plight. At the risk of using a metaphor that may sound demeaning to them, it is kind of like cockroaches coming out of the floor molding. Here are all these people that for the most part are a part of a subterranean culture that will today be quite visible. So today, my old image of May Day is being replaced with a more contemporary. Both of these have political implications. Somewhere in all this, I'm sure I have a poem brewing.

Oh, is anyone else finding it trifling the Senator Bill Frist wants to help us poor American drivers by giving us a $100 tax rebate because of the high gas prices? Surprise!!! The GOP plan also includes a controversial proposal to open part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil exploration. (source)

tags: Immigration Poetry Writing and poetry gas environment

Journalism & Poetry - Poet's Quote of the day

"To separate journalism and poetry, therefore-history and poetry-to set them up at opposite ends of the world of discourse, is to separate seeing from the feel of seeing, emotion from the acting of emotion, knowledge from the realization of knowledge." ~ Archibald MacLeish


Tags: Poetry Journalism history

Fire & Ice

"You are ice and fire the touch of you burns my hands like snow." ~ Amy Lowell

I chose this quote for today simply because it is such a powerful phrase and quite precise in the image it presents to me personally. These are the kinds of lines that produce poetry that leaps from the page rather than just existing as ink in one dimensional form.

On another note, I'd like to suggest to readers that they might consider going to the Squeet box in the left column of this blog and sign up to receive the blog postings via e-mail. I previously used another service which seems not to be defunct of at least not working more that it is. In the short time I have been exposed to Squeet, I have been impressed. This will allow you to receive syndicated feeds of this blog in your e-mail and you can choose from live, daily or weekly feeds.

I have not written much in the past week. I need to integrate a little more time into the coming week for this. I have a number of home projects I am working on and they are coming along but I know there is an endless cycle of them. I had planned to do a more extensive blog post today on a topic but I am forgoing that for now.

Here's to what's left of the weekend!

Tags: Writing and poetry syndication Feeds